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A police department in northwestern Mississippi was embroiled in controversy earlier this month after officers took a 10-year-old boy into custody for urinating behind his mother’s car. Now, one of the officers is “no longer employed,” and others involved “will be disciplined.”
FOX 13 Memphis reports that the situation unfolded on Aug. 10 in Senatobia, Mississippi.
While Latonya Eason was receiving legal advice, an officer allegedly interrupted the meeting to inform her that he’d caught her son urinating behind her car.
The child said he decided to do so because he thought the attorney’s office didn’t have a restroom. Latonya says the officer was satisfied with her handling the matter “like a mom” by setting her son straight.
“He was like, ‘You handled it like a mom. He can get back in the car.'”
However, various other officers soon arrived at the scene. One allegedly declared that the child had to be detained, leaving the mother “speechless.”
“I’m just speechless right now. Why would you arrest a ten-year-old kid?”
AP News reports that, while the child wasn’t charged or put in handcuffs, he was taken to the police station and cited as being a “child in need of services.”
In a statement to FOX 13 Memphis, one former officer named Shawn Dalton acknowledged how officers handled the situation.
“Me being a former cop, that should have never happened. I showed my wife and said this is sickening. Does it take five cops to show up on a scene and confront a 10-year-old? No, it doesn’t.”
Now, the Senatobia Police Department is acknowledging that action has been taken.
The chief provided a brief rundown within the release before saying the officers’ conduct “went against [their] prior training on how to deal with these situations.”
It was also noted that the situation “triggered an internal complaint” and was “investigated according to [their] procedures.”
Ultimately, the investigation resulted in “one of the officers [being] no longer employed.” It’s also noted that the other officers “will be disciplined,” and the department will have “mandatory juvenile training.”
However, Chandler noted that the department participates in this training “every year.” It’s unclear if any new action will be implemented in the wake of the ordeal.
